Hardly any other application bears an information content with such a distinctive geographic relation, like tourism websites. This includes accommodations, places of interest, leisure, outdoor-activities, entertainment, infrastructure, gastronomy and many more. Especially on vacation trips interesting positions in the vicinity are of utmost interest.

City breaks are trendy. The length of stay averages between some hours and a view days. The interest of the visitors is different. The tendency to inform oneself about vacation spots ahead of time is increasing. Vacationers increasingly book the accommodation via internet without establishing personal contacts.

How clearly arranged is the range of services offered on your website?

Through how many menues website visitors need to search?

How many technologies and operation concepts one needs to know to versatile with your website.

Beside the travel destination the leisure time facilities differ from region to region and thus the focus topics, which get communicated on the website:

1. Accommodation
   The ways to find a residence are different. Some users search an accommodation list and decide upon category, cost, terms, etc. For others the location of a hotel is of vital importance, so they look it up on the map. Some prefer a tranquil place, others like to reside centrally.
   PinPoint links the locations with existing booking systems so that data administration is reduced.
   Directions to each location are activated via vicinity-search or directly on the business card. The directions are calculated and displayed directly on your site inside the map. Website visitors don‘t lose their way in confusing menues anymore.
   

2. 
   

3. Infrastructure/Shopping
   

4. Many people combine vacation with shopping. It can be of advantage to show the alternatives on the website. Beside the standard directions by car also the directions for pedestrians and public transportation can be integrated.
   

5. 
   

6. Culture/Museums/Sightseeing/Events
   

7. A point of interest is more than just the position of a location alone. Web surfers may compile interesting information from different websites. PinPoint is an easy and clear tool that links all information of a location. A visitor is able to plan his holidays on the basis of several interesting locations and is able to document a trip afterwards.
   

8. 
   

9. Gastronomy
   

10. Some people associate holidays with culinary pleasure. It is valuable for them to know in advance, which restaurant to visit, which cuisine is offered, where to find it, and maybe check what the menue offers.
    

11. 
    

12. Sport/Nature
    

13. Rural holiday areas offer a lot of activities in the nature. Mountainbiking, hiking, trails, routes, cross-country ski, adventure camps, rafting routes, canoeing are more than only a spot in a map. Lines and areas are displayed in PinPoint as via KML. Website visitors can change between the alternative maps, satellite, terrain views and hence get a very good picture of the holiday area. But that is not good enough. PinPoint also integrates panoramas and aerial views. All images are delivered using the same concept. Visitors confused with different technologies or user interfaces.
    

1. Google Earth
   

2. Your site-experience can be improved if you provide three dimensional interactive maps for offline viewing. Google Earth not only displays locations but also shows lines and areas three dimensionally. Hence a website visitor is able to preview mountainbike routes, hiking tours in the best way.
   

Integration of all Information - Stop the „Internet-Zapping“

Currently two trends are altering the behavior of internet users sustainable. The volume of information on websites is growing. Thus the number of menus is increasing which force visitors to slog their way through.

The complexity of websites increases. Some technologies need instructions to operate them. Others require long download periods, which tax the patience of website visitors.

In order to find information quickly, visitors zap websites. The time people are spending per page or site decreases. Only a few users work their way down to the second or third level, even less into further levels. Factors that could increase the time a user spends on a page are:

1. Clear arrangement: Website visitors like intuitive navigation, when surfing through the menus.
   

2. Easy usage and menus: All maps, panoramas, overview maps, air photographs are operated with the same intuitive user interface. This is easier and quicker.
   

3. Prompt response
   

4. The map as navigation platform: The more geographic content a website provides, the more reason one has to use maps as the central navigation tool on a website. Besides embedding multiple maps, each map can be organised using a legend. Other systems can be linked to PinPoints (locations) in the map directly. This results in better arranged content with less links and less menus.
   

Explanation of the demonstration

1. The demonstration is currently only available in German language.
   

2. The demonstration covers the area of the valleys Oetztal and Pitztal. However its focus primarily is Sölden in the southern part of the valley.
   

3. The width of the page is 870 pixel, which can be viewed with older computers and monitors. But this is too small for recent hardware. Via the button „full screen“, the map can be enlarged to any size. The operating menues still are displayed at the top of the page. The larger a map, the better the overview.
   

4. The demonstration consists of 11 menues. The demonstration provides 8 different thematical maps. A panoramic view of the skiing area, 11 panoramas in one view and an aerial photograph of a village complete the demonstration.
   

5. Map view
   

6. Visitors can choose different map alternatives:
   

7. Map
   

8. Satellite
   

9. Hybrid
   

10. Topographic map/Terrain
    

11. Hiking map
    The hiking map was georeferenced and thus is congruent with the other background alternatives. Due to its native resolution, the zoom range is limited.
    

12. More
    The Google provided layers „Wiki“ and „Pano“ can be activated using checkboxes.
    
    

13. Preferred view
    The default sector, the background view and the zoom level can be set for each page.
    

14. Multiple utilization of locations
    Several PinPoints/locations, e.g. mountains, sports outfitters and webcams get shown in different maps.
    

15. Lines, ares - KML
    In some maps hiking trails, fixed rope routes, mountainbike and bicycle tracks, cross-country ski runs, pistes, toboggan runs, rafting- and kayak-routes, starting- and landing zones for paragliders, bus-lines, etc. are embedded. There are three options to activate them:
    

16. Activated continuously
    The KML get already shown, when the menu gets activated. (Hiking; mountainbiking; local golf courses)
    

17. Via a category-icon in the legend (Winter-map: Alpine skiing, others; resort information: arrival)
    

18. Directly by clicking onto an icon in the map or the list (summer: hiking, biking, other summer activities; resort information: leisure time facilities - sightseeing)
    

19. Track profiles
    In the business cards of the mountainbike tracks is a link to existing track profiles integrated. When clicking on the link the profile opens in a new window. Beside the map-view an active elevation profile is shown. By moving the mouse indicator through the elevation profile the corresponding position in the map moves.
    

20. Room booking
    

21. 552 accommodations are displayed in the menue resort information/accommodations in Sölden. The hotels can be booked directly via the link „book a room“. It‘s not necessary to change to another menue.
    

22. Webcams
    

23. Webcam images are displayed in the map when clicking the icon in the map or the list. By showing the webcam pictures additionally in the list users quickly gain first impressions.
    

24. Leap functions
    

25. 11 panoramas, which show the Ötztal valley can be accessed with the menu „panorama“. The pictures can be moved and zoomed with the familiar Google Maps operating concept.
    The numbered location markers indicate places where panoramas have been taken. The icons have a „leap-function“. By clicking on them one can change to the corresponding place and enjoy the view from there.
    

26. Google Earth
    

27. By clicking the button „Google Earth“ on the right side of the menue, the content of the current map can be viewed in 3D. Google Earth is started if it is installed on the computer of the visitor. Location markers and KML-information as lines and areas are transfered from PinPoint to the visitor`s computer and displayed. The legend is passive, instead the visitor can use Google Earth`s built in checkboxes.
    

28. Aerial photographs
    

29. An aerial photograph of Serfaus can be opened in the menu „Luftbild Serfaus“. Due to the optical distortion the location markers are not georeferenced.
    

30. Optionally it is possible to link the position of the same location in the map, when activating the leap-function. A same function can be activated to link back from the map to the aerial photograph.